Desktop launcher

ABSTRACT

A method for providing a user customized card in a launcher. A card list is presented in the launcher (1210). One or more customizable cards are provided in response to a user input (1220). A user selection of one of the one or more cards is received (1230). Customization of the selected card is executed based on user inputs (1240). The customized card is presented in the card list (1250).

BACKGROUND

A desktop launcher provides a user interface (UI) for a user as a startpoint to operate at a computing device. For example, a launcher providesshortcuts to application programs in its UI, so that the user may startthe application programs by operating the shortcuts. Examples of amobile device launcher include open-sourced Android launcher, defaultlauncher from iOS device or Windows Phone (WP) device.

SUMMARY

This Summary is provided to introduce a selection of concepts that arefurther described below in the Detailed Description. It is not intendedto identify key features or essential features of the claimed subjectmatter, nor is it intended to be used to limit the scope of the claimedsubject matter.

Embodiments of the present disclosure may provide an improved launcher.A card list is presented in the launcher. One or more customizable cardsare provided in response to a user input. A user selection of one of theone or more cards is received. Customization of the selected card isexecuted based on user inputs. The customized card is presented in thecard list.

It should be noted that the above one or more aspects comprise thefeatures hereinafter fully described and particularly pointed out in theclaims. The following description and the drawings set forth in detailcertain illustrative features of the one or more aspects. These featuresare only indicative of the various ways in which the principles ofvarious aspects may be employed, and this disclosure is intended toinclude all such aspects and their equivalents.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The disclosed aspects will hereinafter be described in connection withthe appended drawings that are provided to illustrate and not to limitthe disclosed aspects.

FIG. 1 illustrates an exemplary environment application where thedescribed techniques can be implemented.

FIGS. 2-11 each illustrates an exemplary part of a UI of a launcheraccording to an embodiment.

FIG. 12 is a flowchart of an exemplary method for providing a usercustomized card in a launcher according to an embodiment.

FIG. 13 illustrates an exemplary apparatus for providing a usercustomized card in a launcher according to an embodiment.

FIG. 14 illustrates an exemplary computing system according to anembodiment.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

The present disclosure will now be discussed with reference to severalexample implementations. It is to be understood that theseimplementations are discussed only for enabling those skilled in the artto better understand and thus implement the embodiments of the presentdisclosure, rather than suggesting any limitations on the scope of thepresent disclosure.

As used herein, the term “includes” and its variants are to be read asopen terms that mean “includes, but is not limited to”. The term “basedon” is to be read as “based at least in part on”. The terms “oneembodiment” and “an embodiment” are to be read as “at least oneimplementation”. The term “another embodiment” is to be read as “atleast one other embodiment”. The term “a” or “an” is to be read as “atleast one”. The terms “first”, “second”, and the like may refer todifferent or same objects. The terms “a subset” is to be read as “atleast one”, for example, a subset of A, B and C is to be read as atleast one of A, B and C and include all of A, B and C. Otherdefinitions, explicit and implicit, may be included below. A definitionof a term is consistent throughout the description unless the contextclearly indicates otherwise.

FIG. 1 illustrates an exemplary environment where embodiments of thedisclosure can be implemented. It is to be appreciated that thestructure and functionality of the environment are described only forthe purpose of illustration without suggesting any limitations as to thescope of the disclosure. The disclosure can be embodied with a differentstructure or functionality.

The illustrated environment includes a computing device 100, which isillustrated as a mobile computing device (e.g., a mobile phone) having ahousing 140. A variety of other configurations of the computing device100 are also contemplated. For example, the computing device 100 may beconfigured as a traditional computer (e.g., a desktop personal computer,laptop computer, and so on), a mobile station, an entertainmentappliance, a wireless phone, a tablet, a netbook, and so forth. Thus,the computing device 100 may range from full resource devices withsubstantial memory and processor resources to a low-resource device withlimited memory and/or processing resources. The computing device 100 mayalso relate to software that causes the computing device 100 to performone or more operations.

The computing device 100 is also illustrated as including a displayer150, a processing system 110, and an example of computer-readablestorage media, which in this instance is memory 130. The memory 130 isconfigured to maintain applications 132 that are executable by theprocessing system 110 to perform one or more operations.

The processing system 110 is not limited by the materials from which itis formed or the processing mechanisms employed therein. For example,the processing system 110 may be comprised of semiconductor(s) and/ortransistors (e.g., electronic integrated circuits (ICs)), such as asystem on a chip, processors, central processing units, processingcores, functional blocks, and so on. In such a context, executableinstructions may be electronically-executable instructions.Alternatively, the mechanisms of the processing system 110, and thus ofthe computing device 100, may include, but are not limited to, quantumcomputing, optical computing, mechanical computing (e.g., usingnanotechnology), and so forth. Additionally, although a single memory130 is shown, a wide variety of types and combinations of memory may beemployed, such as random access memory (RAM), hard disk memory,removable medium memory, and other types of computer-readable storagemedia.

The computing device 100 is further illustrated as including anoperating system 120. The operating system 120 is configured to abstractunderlying functionality of the computing device 100 to applications 132that are executable on the computing device 100. For example, theoperating system 120 may abstract the processing system 110, memory 130,network, input/output, and/or display functionality of the displayer150, and so on such that the applications 132 may be written withoutknowing how this underlying functionality is implemented. Theapplication 132, for instance, may provide data to the operating system120 to be rendered and displayed by the displayer 150 withoutunderstanding how this rendering will be performed. The operating system120 may also represent a variety of other functionality, such as tomanage a file system and user interface that is navigable by a user ofthe computing device 100.

The operating system 120 may be configured to process a variety ofdifferent input/output functionality supported by the computing device100. Thus, the operating system 120 includes functionality relating torecognition of inputs and/or provision of outputs by the computingdevice 100 as well as devices used to detect those inputs. For example,the operating system 120 may be configured to identify gestures andcause operations to be performed that correspond to the gestures, and soon. The inputs may be detected for processing by the operating system120 in a variety of different ways. For example, the operating system120 may be configured to receive one or more inputs via touchinteraction with a hardware device, e.g., fingers of a user's handdetected using touchscreen functionality of the displayer 150, via anatural user interface (NUI) with an image capturing device (e.g., acamera), via a cursor control device (e.g., a mouse), a remote control(e.g. a television remote control), and so on.

The operating system 120 may also represent a variety of otherfunctionality, such as to manage a file system and a UT that isnavigable by a user of the computing device 100. An example of this isillustrated as a launcher module 124 that is representative offunctionality to implement a desktop launcher, an example of which isillustrated as a start screen or a home screen which provides a UT, thatis, a desktop, for accessing applications or contents represented by theicons. Various configurations are contemplated, such as a desktop or UIthat includes a single screen on a display area of the displayer orincludes multiple screens which are switchable on the display area ofthe displayer. It should be appreciated that the terms launcher,desktop, and UI may be utilized interchangeably in some contexts. And itshould be appreciated that although the launcher module 124 is shown asbeing implemented or integrated in the operating system 120, it's alsopossible to implement a launcher as an application 132, i.e., a launcherapplication may be executed at the computing device 100 to provide thedesktop or UI 160.

The launcher 160, which may also be referred to as the UI 160 of thelauncher, includes representations of a plurality of the applications orcontent 132, such as icon, tiles, textual descriptions, and so on, andmay be configured in a variety of ways. The launcher 160, for instance,may be configured as a root level of a hierarchical file structure,e.g., each of the other levels is beneath the root level in thehierarchy. The representations shown in the illustrated example areselectable to launch a corresponding one of applications 132 forexecution on the computing device 100. In this way, a user may readilynavigate through a file structure and initiate execution of applications132 of interest. Other configurations are also contemplated, examples ofwhich are discussed in the following and shown in corresponding figures.

The operating system 120 is also illustrated as including a system APImodule 124 that is configured to provide various system APIs for othermodules or applications. Various operations may be implemented bycalling the system APIs, examples on the operations include opening anapplication, opening a picture, a video, a music and so on, receivingvarious messages, or the like. In one or more implementations, variousmessages or contents may be obtained by monitoring the related systemAPIs without executing the corresponding applications 132. This may beused to improve battery life and performance of the computing device 100by not running each of the applications 132 to output the messages.

Output of the launcher 160 may be initiated in a variety of ways. In theillustrated example, the launcher 160 is initiated once the computingdevice 100 and the operating system 120 are turned on. In anotherexample, a launcher application 132 may be executed at the computingdevice 100 to provide the UI of the launcher application 132. In thisway, the UI of the launcher application 132 may replace the UI of thelauncher integrated in the operating system 120.

It is illustrated that a home screen of the UI of the launcher 160includes various components such as a search box at the top of the UI,time and date, and icons “APP A” to “APP H” representing respectiveapplications, three small circles, icons of applications denoted byshapes of telephone, envelope, human, and musical note, and operationsymbols denoted by a triangle, a circle and a square. It should beappreciated that the icons of applications may be in various forms inaddition to the illustrated text “APP A” to “APP H”, the graph shapes.The text “APP A” to “APP H” just represents the name of the applicationsthat are installed at the computing device 100, but does not refer tothe order of the applications. The three small circles imply that thereare three screens currently in the UI of the launcher, the bigger circlein the middle indicates the relative position of the current screenamong the three screens. For example, a right swipe operated on thecurrent screen may allow another screen at the left of the currentscreen in the UI to be displayed on the display area of the displayer150, and a left swipe operated on the current screen may allow anotherscreen at the right of the current screen in the UI to be displayed onthe display area of the displayer 150. It should be appreciated that theUI of the launcher 160 is just an example, various variations areapparent for those skilled in the art.

FIG. 2 illustrates an exemplary part of a UI of a launcher according toan embodiment. The same label numbers in different Figures refer to sameor corresponding elements.

In an implementation, the screen in FIG. 2 is displayed on the displayer150 in place of the home screen in FIG. 1 after a right swipe operationis performed on the home screen. Therefore the screen in FIG. 2 may bereferred to as minus one screen. It should be appreciated the screen inFIG. 2 is not necessary to be positioned at this position relative tothe home screen, and may be at any position among the multiple screensof the UI of the launcher. It is illustrated that the minus one screenappears to be larger than the display area of the displayer 150, andunder such circumstance, the minus one screen may be a scrollable screenand be scrollably displayed on the display area of the displayer 150.

It is illustrated that a card list is presented in the UI of thelauncher. The card list currently includes cards 210 to 250. Each cardis of a category such as frequently used application 210, contact 220,note 230, recent 240 and document 250. Each card includes contents orcontent related items associated with the category of the card, in otherwords, the contents or content related items are collected or grouped inone card according to the category of the card. For example, the contentof card 210 relates to frequently used applications, the content of card220 relates to contacts, the content of card 230 relates to notes, thecontent of card 240 relates to recently occurred content or events atthe computing device 100, and the content of card 250 relates todocuments. It should be appreciated that there may be various cards andcorresponding contents in addition to the illustrated cards in FIG. 2,for example, the contents may also comprise news, music, video, picture,and so on.

The EDIT button 260 allows a user to edit the card list presented in theminus one screen. For example, the user is allowed to manage the cards,such as deleting some cards and/or adding some cards in the card list byusing the edit function.

FIG. 3A illustrates an exemplary part of a UI of a launcher presentedwhen the EDIT button 260 is pressed by the user. The UI 300A allows theuser to edit the card list by adding or removing cards. For example, thearea 310 presents representations of the current cards in the card listin the minus one screen, and the area 320 presents representations ofavailable cards that can be added in the card list. A card may beremoved from the card list when a user presses the correspondingsubtraction sign in the area 310, or may be added to the card list whena user presses the corresponding plus sign in the area 320.

For example, as illustrated in the exemplary part 300B of the UI of thelauncher in FIG. 3B, customizable cards named WIDGET, WEB, CONDITIONALmay be added from the candidate list shown in area 320 into the cardlist shown in area 310, and cards named NOTE, RECENT, DOCUMENT may bemoved from the card list shown in area 310 to the candidate list shownin area 320.

As illustrated in FIG. 3B, the representations of the customizable cardssuch as WIDGET, WEB, CONDITIONAL are still shown in the candidate area320 after the customizable cards are added into the card list. That isto say, for one customizable card, one or more copies of the card may beadded in the card list and may be customized by the user. It should beappreciated that the disclosure is not limited thereto, and thecustomizable cards may also be moved from the candidate area 320 to thecard list area 310 without remaining in the candidate area 320.

FIG. 4 illustrates an exemplary part of the UI of the launcher after theedition shown in FIG. 3B. The card list including cards 210 to 250 shownin FIG. 2 changes to the card list including cards 210-220 and 270-290shown in FIG. 4 after the edition shown in FIG. 3B.

The widget card 270, web card 280 and conditional card 290 may becustomized by users so as to meet various special requirements of theusers. For example, the widget card 270 may be edited or customized bypressing the ADD WIDGET button, the web card 280 and the conditionalcard 290 may be edited or customized by pressing the EDIT button. TheADD WIDGET button in card 270 is also an edit button in substance. Itshould be appreciated that the terms edit and customize may beinterchangeably used in the disclosure.

Although it is illustrated in FIG. 4 that a customizable card is firstlypresented in the card list and then is edited or customized, it shouldbe appreciated that editing or customizing of a customizable card may beperformed when the card is chosen in the UI of FIG. 3A or FIG. 3B, andthen the edited or customized card may be presented in the card list.The disclosure is not limited to the order of the editing of thecustomizable card and the presenting of the customizable or customizedcard in the card list.

FIG. 5A illustrates an exemplary customizing of a widget card accordingto an embodiment. The user may press the ADD WIDGET button on the card270 in the card list of the launcher shown in FIG. 4. After receivingthe user input, available widgets may be presented in the UI 510 namedchoose widget. In the illustrated example of FIG. 5A, the availablewidgets are presented in an alphabetical order of the names of thewidgets, and three exemplary widgets named “Weather Expert”, “WifiManager” and “WPS Mailbox” are illustrated.

FIG. 5B illustrates an exemplary customized widget card 270 after theuser chooses a widget named “WPS Mailbox”. After the widget isincorporated in the customized widget card 270, the functions and dataprovided by the widget may be conveniently access by the user throughthe customized widget card 270 in the card list. For example, the emailsin the inbox of the WPS mailbox may be accessed in the card list withoutneeding to open the application of the WPS Mailbox.

In an implementation, the customizable card 270 may be changed in sizein adaption to the size of the widget when the widget is added in thecard 270. In another implementation, the widget may be resized by theuser in order to show more or less information, for example, the usermay press the widget for a certain period in order to make the widgetinto an editable state, in which the size and position of the widget inthe card may be changed in response to user's operation. The card may beautomatically resized in adaption to the changed size and/or position ofthe widget. For example, as illustrated in FIG. 5B, the widget may beenlarged so as to present more contents, and the size of the card may beenlarged adaptively, resulting to a further customized widget card 270A.

In an implementation, more than one widget may be added to the widgetcard 270. The UI 510 in FIG. 5A may include a button 512 for choosingmultiple widgets. A multi-choosing mode may be entered after the button512 is pressed, and one or more widgets may be chosen by a user to beadded into the widget card 270. For example, as illustrated in FIG. 5C,two exemplary widgets such as a clock widget and a weather widget may beadded into the widget card 270. As mentioned above, the position of thewidget such as the weather widget may be changed in the card 270, andthe size of the border of the card 270 may be resized in adaption to thechange of position of the widget, resulting in the further customizedcard 270A. By customizing this card 270A, the user may view the time andweather conveniently in the way the user likes.

In an implementation, the background, the border style of the card maybe customized. For example, the background of a widget may be close tothe background of a card. The background color of the card may becustomized to be transparent or a solid color, the border around thecard may be customized to be visible or invisible, so that the widgetmay be put in a card with ideal appearance. It should be appreciatedthat the adaption of size, background color and border format areapplicable to any customizable card in addition to the widget card.

In an implementation, when multiple widgets are added into the widgetcard 270, only one of them is presented in the card or only a limitednumber of widgets among them are presented in the card. For example, asillustrated in FIG. 5D, four exemplary widgets are added into the widgetcard 270 and only the clock widget is presented in the widget 270.

A menu is presented when the three black dots in the card 270 is pressedby a user. As shown in FIG. 5D, the menu includes elements “Pin todesktop”, “Show more items”, “Rename” and “Remove”. It should beappreciated that more or less elements may be included in the menu.

When the element “Pin to desktop” is operated or selected, a page 270Bis presented in the displayer 150. In other words, the presentation ofthe card 270 is switched to the presentation of the page 270B in the UIof the launcher. As indicated by the bigger circle among the fourcircles shown in the page 270B, the page 270B occupies a new screenother than the three screens as shown in FIG. 1. The page 270B havingthe same category of the card 270 may occupy the full screen and mayeven be a scrollable page, and thus may accommodate much more contentsor content related items than the corresponding card 270. The widgets inthe page 270B are illustrated with their names “Wealth Spirit”, “RunningTogether” and “Coupons” for sake of simplicity, it should be appreciatedthat the contents and functions of the widgets should be presented inthe widgets in the widget page 270B for fast accessing by the user. Inthis way, the user may group multiple widgets of interest together andaccess the contents of the widgets quickly without needing to open theapplications corresponding to the widgets.

It should be appreciated that the shown element “Pin to desktop” is justan example, various manners for switching the presentation of a card tothe presentation of a page are applicable. For example, a specificgesture performed to the card on the displayer having a touching screenmay be identified as a user input indicating switching the presentationof a card to the presentation of a page.

The “show more items” element in the menu, when operated or chosen,would allow the card 270 to extend larger so as to present more items,which may be more widgets or may be more items in one widget such as themailbox widget shown in FIG. 5B. For example, the content area of thecard 270 may extend twofold as large as the original size so as toaccommodate a double number of content related items. In the extendedcard, the “show more items” element would become a “show less items”element, which, when operated or chosen, would allow the extended cardto return to its original size. The “show more items” element and “showless items” element may also be referred to as unfolding and folding.

The “rename” element in the menu, when operated or chosen, would allowthe user to rename the card 270. For example, the current name “WIDGETS”of the card 270 may be renamed as another name such as “living widgets”.

The “remove” element in the menu, when operated or chosen, would causethe card 270 to be removed from the card list of the launcher. In animplementation, when the “remove” element in the card is operated orchosen, both the card 270 and the corresponding page 270B are removed.In this case, as the more convenient card is removed by the user, it isderived that the corresponding page is not desirable for the user andthus may be removed concurrently so as to save computing and memoryresources.

An “unpin to card” element and a “remove” element are provided in themenu associated with the three black dots in the page 270B. When the“unpin to card” element is operated or chosen, the presentation of thepage 270B would be switched to the presentation of the card 270. The“remove” element, when operated or chosen, would cause the page to beremoved from the launcher. In an implementation, when the “remove”element in the page is operated or chosen, only the page 270B is removedwhile the card 270 is remained.

It should be appreciated that more or less elements may be provided inthe menu of the card and/or the page. It is not necessary to implementall the elements in the menu as shown in FIG. 5D and in other FIGUREs.The functions of some elements may also be implemented in other ways,for example, the “remove” element or the “unpin to card” element may beimplemented by a specific finger gesture performed on the page.

FIG. 6A illustrates an exemplary editing of a web card according to anembodiment. The user may press the EDIT button on the web card 280 inthe card list of the launcher shown in FIG. 4. In an implementation asillustrated in FIG. 6A, after receiving the user input, an inputting boxmay be activated to receiving user input in the web card 280A.Information indicating a web source may be input in the inputting box.The information of a web source may be a Uniform Resource Locator (URL),which indicates the source of web content such as Really SimpleSyndication (RSS) feed, new feed, social medium feed, dashboard portaland so on. The URL may be set in the web card in order for the web cardto obtain contents from the URL. It should be appreciated that theinputting box may also be initially arranged in place of the EDIT buttonin the card 280.

FIG. 6B illustrates an exemplary editing of a web card according to anembodiment. A setting interface 610 may be presented in response to auser's operation on the EDIT button in the web card 280. The settinginterface 610 may provide a list of available web sources, such as “163News”, “Today Wonderful”, “Yahoo”, “Stock panel” as illustrated, whichmay be chosen by the user to customize the web card 280. In addition, aninputting box may also be provided in the setting interface 610 in orderfor the user to input URL information for a special web source.

FIG. 6C illustrates an exemplary customized card 280 which is customizedvia the interface illustrated in FIG. 6A or FIG. 6B. In the exampleillustrated in FIG. 6C, the URL of web content “Yahoo News” is set inthe web card 280. The web contents such as the News may be parsed andpresented in a predetermined format in the web card 280. For example, asillustrated in FIG. 6C, a representative picture or thumbnail and atextual headline may be presented for each item of News in the web card280. The headlines allow a user to get a quick understanding of thenews. The user may press an item in the card, and then the detailedcontent corresponding to the item may be presented in a browser such asa default browser installed on the computing device 100.

A menu is presented when the three black dots in the card 280 is pressedby a user. As shown in FIG. 6C, the menu includes elements “Pin todesktop”, “Show more items”, “Rename” and “Remove”. The functions of theelements in the menu are similar to those in the widget card illustratedin FIG. 5D. It should be appreciated that more or less elements may beincluded in the menu.

The menu may also include a “Refresh” element. The web card may retrievecontents from the web source when the user presses the “Refresh”element. Of course, the web card may periodically refresh the presentedcontent without having to receive the refreshing instruction from theuser. It should be appreciated that the “Refresh” element may bearranged in a more convenient position, for example, may be arranged atthe bottom of the web card in order for the user to quickly operate thisfunction.

When the element “Pin to desktop” is operated or selected, a page 280Bis presented in the displayer 150. In other words, the presentation ofthe web card 280 is switched to the presentation of the page 280B in theUI of the launcher. As indicated by the bigger circle among the fivecircles shown in the page 280B, the page 280B occupies a new screenother than the four screens as shown in FIG. 5D. The page 280B havingthe same category of the card 280 may occupy the full screen and mayeven be a scrollable page, and thus may accommodate much more contentsor content related items than the corresponding card 280. Taking theNews page 280B as an example, the page 280B presents much more Newsitems and thus allows the user to view the News more conveniently.

An “unpin to card” element and a “remove” element are provided in themenu associated with the three black dots in the page 280B. Thefunctions of the “unpin to card” element and a “remove” element aresimilar to those in the widget page 270B illustrated in FIG. 5D.

FIG. 7A illustrates an exemplary editing of a conditional card accordingto an embodiment. The user may press the EDIT button on the conditionalcard 290 in the card list of the launcher shown in FIG. 4. In animplementation as illustrated in FIG. 7A, a setting interface 710A maybe presented in response to the user input on the EDIT button in the webcard 290. The setting interface 710A may provide a list of availabletasks supported by the card 290, such as “Phone call”, “Email”, “Stock”,“Calendar” as illustrated, which may be chosen by the user to customizea task in the conditional card 290.

The setting interface 710B illustrated in FIG. 7B is presented when the“Phone call” is selected in the interface 710. The setting interface710B includes exemplary conditions and actions that may be customized bythe user. As illustrated, the conditions may include “incoming a call”or “missing a call” from somebody. For example, the user may select thecondition “missing a call” and set the related phone number via the“from who” element. The related phone number may be set by selecting acontact from the contacts stored in the computing device 100, and mayalso be set by inputting the number manually by a user.

The action may include “Alarm” as well as the intention of the alarm. Anexample of the high intension may be that the alarm is performed withhigh sounds and intensive vibrations and would not stop until the usermanually turns off it. An example of the medium intention may be thatthe alarm is performed with high sounds and intensive vibrationsperiodically. An example of the low intention may be that the alarm isperformed with lower sounds periodically. Other manners of alarm may beapplicable, for example, the background color of the card may be changedto a noticeable color, or the like.

For example, the user may set the condition as “missing a call fromMary” and set the action as “Alarm with high intension”. Then thecustomized conditional card may be presented in the card list of thelauncher, and may also be invisible until the customized conditionoccurs. In this example, the customized conditional card may monitorincoming call of the specific number through the system API or thesystem message center. When the incoming call from the specific numberoccurs but is not accepted by the user, the customized condition occursand the alarm would be presented.

The setting interface 710C illustrated in FIG. 7C is presented when the“Stock” is selected in the interface 710A. The setting interface 710Cincludes exemplary conditions and actions that may be customized by theuser. As illustrated, the conditions may include “choosing stock” andmay optionally include “information source” of the stock. The conditionsmay include “price increase” or “price decrease” as well as thecorresponding target prices. For example, the user may select a specificstock via the “choose stock” button, then the customized card 290 maymonitor the information of the selected stock. As another example, somespecial stocks may not be available in the card 290, and the user maystill set such a stock in the card 290 by specifying the informationsource of the stock, such as a URL which provides the information of thestock. Then the user may choose the “price increase” or the “pricedecrease” and set the corresponding target prices as the condition. Theaction may include “Alarm”, “sell”, “buy” and “amount” corresponding tothe “sell” or “buy”, which may be customized by the user.

For example, the user may set the condition as “Price increase ofCompany A's stock to a target price such as 100 dollar”, and set theaction as “Alarm” and/or “sell 1000 shares”.

With the setting of the conditions and the actions, the customized stockcard 290 may be presented in the card list. For example, the customizedstock such as stock A may be presented with brief stock information inthe stock card before the customized condition has not occurred. Whenthe customized condition comes into effect, the actions of selling apredetermined amount of the stocks and alarming the user may beperformed by the conditional stock card.

It should be appreciated that one or more conditions may be set in oneconditional card, and a part or all of the conditions may be in a AND orOR relation, and accordingly one or more actions may also be set inresponse to a part or all of the conditions in one conditional card. Forexample, a price increase condition as well as a corresponding buyaction may be set for a specific stock in one conditional card, and aprice decrease condition as well as a corresponding sell action may alsobe set for the specific stock in the conditional card.

In an implementation, multiple stocks may be set in the conditional card290. Only a subset of the customized stocks is presented in conditionalstock card 290 as illustrated in FIG. 7D, and the card 290 may beswitched to a corresponding page 290A, in which all the customizedstocks may be presented along with brief stock information. This allowsthe user to view the multiple stocks of interest in a single stock pageconveniently.

Although FIG. 7A illustrates a multi-function conditional card whichsupports different types of conditional tasks, it should be appreciatedthat one conditional card may only support a specific kind of task suchas the phone call, or the email, or the stock, or the calendar, or thelike. It should be appreciated that various conditional cards may beimplemented in addition to those described above. Examples of theconditional cards may be an event reminder card, e.g., the condition isa birthday and the action is reminder to buy gift, a threshold remindercard, e.g., the above mentioned conditional stock card or a conditionalprice card, and a message reminder card, e.g., the condition may be anemail, short message or instant messaging (IM) message received from aspecific person and the action may be respond automatically and alarmingto the user.

Although the customized cards 270 to 290 illustrated in the Figures donot include an EDIT button, it's appreciated that the EDIT button may bereserved at the customized cards to allow further editing or customizingof the customized cards.

The cards 210 to 250 may also be switched into corresponding pages whichmay provide and present a super set of contents and functions of thecards. In other words, the cards 210 to 250 provide a subset of thecontents and/or functions provided in the corresponding pages. Theswitching of the presentation of the cards 210 to 250 is not illustratedin the Figures for sake of simplicity.

FIG. 8 illustrates the operation of a group of cards according to anembodiment. In an implementation, the order of the cards may be changedin the screen in response to a user input or a user operation. Forexample, when a card such as the web card named Yahoo News iscontinuously pressed for a predetermined time length, the card may be ina movable state and may be moved to a position among the group of cards.As shown in FIG. 8, the web card, which is more likely to be viewed by auser, may be moved to the more convenient position which is between theAPP card and the CONTACT card. The pressing and/or other operating onthe card may be performed by using a hardware such as the user's finger,a cursor positioning device, a touching pen, and may be performedthrough a NUI.

FIG. 9 illustrates the operation of a group of cards according to anembodiment. In an implementation, a card may be removed or demolishedfrom the screen in response to a user input or a user operation. Forexample, when a card such as the widget card named WPS Mailbox iscontinuously pressed for a predetermined time length, the card may be ina movable state, in which a certain gesture, such as a swipe to theleft, performed on the card may be used to remove the card.Alternatively, as discussed above, the card may also be removed bychoosing the remove button in the menu of the card. In animplementation, in response to the removing operation to a card, boththe card and the corresponding page are removed from the UI of thelauncher.

FIG. 10 illustrates the operation of a group of pages or screensaccording to an embodiment. In an implementation, the order of the pagesmay be changed in response to a user input or a user operation. A pagemovable state as shown in FIG. 10 may be entered by a certain user inputor user operation, such as a long pressing of a page or a long pressingof the home key as shown by the little circle in the bottom of thecomputing device. It should be appreciated that FIG. 10 schematicallyshows the order of the movable screens or pages, which may be presentedin the displayer in a slidable manner. A page may be moved to a positionamong the group of pages or screens in the page movable state. As shownin FIG. 10, the web page named Yahoo News may be moved to the positionbefore the FREQUENT APP page. Then the user may quickly switch among theminus one screen, the home screen, and the web page by least operationssuch as swipe operations to the screens in the UI of the launcher.

FIG. 11 illustrates the operation of a group of pages or screensaccording to an embodiment. In an implementation, a page may be removedor demolished from among the pages in response to a user input or a useroperation. For example, a page such as the CONTACT page may be removedin the page movable state in response to a certain gesture, such as aswipe to the up, performed on the page. Alternatively, as discussedabove, the page may also be removed by choosing the remove button in themenu of the page.

FIG. 12 illustrates a method for providing a user customized card in alauncher according to an embodiment. At 1210, a card list including oneor more cards is presented in the launcher. At 1220, one or morecustomizable cards are provided in response to a user input. The userinput may be an operation on the EDIT button which indicates editing ofthe card list. The one or more customizable cards may include at leastone of a widget card, a web card and a conditional card. At 1230, a userselection of one of the one or more cards may be received. At 1240,customization of the selected card may be executed based on user inputs.At 1250, the customized card may be presented in the card list.

In an implementation, the selected card is a widget card. Availablewidgets are presented in response to a user input. The user input may bean operation on the ADD WIDGET button which indicates the editing of thewidget card. At least one widget may be selected from the availablewidgets and accordingly incorporated in the widget card. The size and/orposition of the at least one widget may be changed in the widget card inresponse to a user input. The size of the widget card may be changed inadaption to the size and/or position of the at least one widget. Atleast one of border style and background of the widget card may bechanged in response to a user input.

In an implementation, at least a part of the at least one widget may bepresented in the widget card. The widget card may be switched to awidget page and all of the at least one widget may be presented in thewidget page.

In an implementation, the selected card is a web card. Informationindicating a web source may be set in the web card in response to a userinput of the information. The user input may be a selection fromavailable candidate web sources, and may be a text input of the websource. Contents are received from the web source, and at least a partof the contents is presented in a predefined format in the customizedweb card. The web card may be switched to a web page, and at least apart of the contents may be presented in the web page, wherein thecontents presented in the web card is a subset of the contents presentedin the web page.

In an implementation, the selected card is a conditional card. Conditioninformation and action information corresponding to the conditioninformation are set in the conditional card in response to a user input,so as to customize the condition card. The customized condition cardmonitors at least one condition indicated by the condition information,and performs at least one action once identifying that the at least onecondition is met.

FIG. 13 illustrates an exemplary apparatus 1300 for providing a usercustomized card in a launcher. The apparatus 1300 comprises a presentingmodule 1310, a receiving module 1320 and a customizing module 1330. Thepresenting module 1310 is configured to present a card list in thelauncher, and present representations of one or more customizable cardsin response to a user input. The representations of the cards may bethose representations illustrated in FIG. 3A and FIG. 3B, and may be inany other suitable format as long as they may represent the cards. Itshould be appreciated that the representation of a card may also be thecard itself.

The receiving module 1320 is configured to receive a selection of one ofthe one or more customizable cards. The one or more cards may include atleast one of a widget card, a web card and a conditional card. Thecustomizing module 1330 is configured to execute customization of theselected card based on user inputs. The presenting module 1310 isconfigured to present the customized card in the card list in thelauncher.

In an implementation, the selected card is a widget card. The presentingmodule 1310 is configured to present available widgets in response to auser input indicating the editing of the widget card. The customizingmodule 1330 is configured to incorporate at least one widget selectedfrom the available widgets in the widget card. In an implementation, thecustomizing module 1330 is configured to change size and/or position ofthe at least one widget in the widget card in response to a user input.In an implementation, the customizing module 1330 is configured tochange size of the widget card in adaption to the size and/or positionof the at least one widget. In an implementation, the customizing module1330 is configured to change at least one of border style and backgroundof the widget card in response to a user input.

In an implementation, the apparatus 1300 may also comprise a switchingmodule configured to switch a card to a page. The switch module may beconfigured to switch the widget card to a widget page. The presentingmodule 1310 is configured to present at least a part of the at least onewidget in the widget card, and present all of the at least one widget inthe widget page.

In an implementation, the card is a web card. The customizing module1330 is configured to set information indicating a web source in the webcard in response to user input of the information. The presenting module1310 is further configured to present at least a part of contentsreceived from the web source in a predefined format in the web card.

In an implementation, the switch module may be configured to switch theweb card to a web page. The presenting module 1310 is configured topresent at least a part of the contents in the web page, wherein thecontents presented in the web card is a subset of the contents presentedin the web page.

In an implementation, the card is a conditional card. The customizingmodule 1330 is configured to set condition information and actioninformation corresponding to the condition information in theconditional card in response to a user input so as to customize theconditional card.

In an implementation, the apparatus may also comprise a monitoringmodule configured to monitor at least one condition indicated by thecondition information. The apparatus may also comprise an acting moduleconfigured to perform at least one action once the at least onecondition occurs.

The apparatus 1300 may also comprise any other modules configured forperforming any operations of the methods for providing user customizedcards according to the various embodiments as mentioned above.

FIG. 14 illustrates an exemplary system 1400 for providing a usercustomized card in a launcher according to an embodiment.

The system 1400 may comprise one or more processors 1410. The system1400 may further comprise a memory 1420 that is connected with the oneor more processors 1410. The memory 1420 may store computer-executableinstructions that, when executed, cause the one or more processors 1410to run a desktop launcher. The system 1400 may further comprise adisplayer 1430 for displaying a UI of the desktop launcher, the UIincludes a card list in a screen of the launcher. The system 1400 mayfurther comprise an input unit 1440 for receiving a user input via theUI. The input unit 1440 is illustrated as a touch screen 1440 in FIG.14. It should be appreciated that any input unit may be applicable inthe disclosure, for example, a cursor control device, a camerasupporting a NUI, and so on. Although the touch screen 1440 isillustrated as a separate unit from the displayer, it's also possible tointegrate the touch screen 1440 in the displayer 1430.

The computer-executable instructions, when executed, further cause theone or more processors 1410 to provide one or more customizable cards inresponse to a user input, receive a user selection of one of the one ormore cards, execute customization of the selected card based on userinputs, and present the customized card in the card list.

The computer-executable instructions, when executed, cause the one ormore processors 1410 to perform any operations of the methods forpresenting a user customized card according to the embodiments asmentioned above.

The embodiments of the present disclosure may be embodied in anon-transitory computer-readable medium. The non-transitorycomputer-readable medium may comprise instructions that, when executed,cause one or more processors to perform any operations of the methodsfor providing user customized cards according to the embodiments asmentioned above.

It should be appreciated that all the operations in the methodsdescribed above are merely exemplary, and the present disclosure is notlimited to any operations in the methods or sequence orders of theseoperations, and should cover all other equivalents under the same orsimilar concepts.

It should also be appreciated that all the modules in the apparatusesdescribed above may be implemented in various approaches. These modulesmay be implemented as hardware, software, or a combination thereof.Moreover, any of these modules may be further functionally divided intosub-modules or combined together.

Processors have been described in connection with various apparatusesand methods. These processors may be implemented using electronichardware, computer software, or any combination thereof. Whether suchprocessors are implemented as hardware or software will depend upon theparticular application and overall design constraints imposed on thesystem. By way of example, a processor, any portion of a processor, orany combination of processors presented in the present disclosure may beimplemented with a microprocessor, microcontroller, digital signalprocessor (DSP), a field-programmable gate array (FPGA), a programmablelogic device (PLD), a state machine, gated logic, discrete hardwarecircuits, and other suitable processing components configured to performthe various functions described throughout the present disclosure. Thefunctionality of a processor, any portion of a processor, or anycombination of processors presented in the present disclosure may beimplemented with software being executed by a microprocessor,microcontroller, DSP, or other suitable platform.

Software shall be construed broadly to mean instructions, instructionsets, code, code segments, program code, programs, subprograms, softwaremodules, applications, software applications, software packages,routines, subroutines, objects, threads of execution, procedures,functions, etc. The software may reside on a computer-readable medium. Acomputer-readable medium may include, by way of example, memory such asa magnetic storage device (e.g., hard disk, floppy disk, magneticstrip), an optical disk, a smart card, a flash memory device, randomaccess memory (RAM), read only memory (ROM), programmable ROM (PROM),erasable PROM (EPROM), electrically erasable PROM (EEPROM), a register,or a removable disk. Although memory is shown separate from theprocessors in the various aspects presented throughout the presentdisclosure, the memory may be internal to the processors (e.g., cache orregister).

The previous description is provided to enable any person skilled in theart to practice the various aspects described herein. Variousmodifications to these aspects will be readily apparent to those skilledin the art, and the generic principles defined herein may be applied toother aspects. Thus, the claims are not intended to be limited to theaspects shown herein. All structural and functional equivalents to theelements of the various aspects described throughout the presentdisclosure that are known or later come to be known to those of ordinaryskill in the art are expressly incorporated herein by reference and areintended to be encompassed by the claims.

1. A method for providing a user customized card in a launcher,comprising: presenting a card list in the launcher; providing one ormore customizable cards in response to a user input; receiving a userselection of one of the one or more cards; executing customization ofthe selected card based on user inputs; and presenting the customizedcard in the card list.
 2. The method of claim 1, wherein the one or morecards include at least one of a widget card, a web card and aconditional card.
 3. The method of claim 2, wherein the card is a widgetcard, and the executing customization of the card comprises: presentingavailable widgets in response to a user input; and incorporating atleast one widget selected from the available widgets in the widget card.4. The method of claim 3, wherein the executing customization of thecard comprises: changing size and/or position of the at least one widgetin the widget card in response to a user input; and/or changing size ofthe widget card in adaption to the size and/or position of the at leastone widget; and/or changing at least one of border style and backgroundof the widget card in response to a user input.
 5. The method of claim3, further comprising: presenting at least a part of the at least onewidget in the widget card; and/or switching the widget card to a widgetpage and presenting the at least one widget in the widget page.
 6. Themethod of claim 2, wherein the card is a web card, and the executingcustomization of the card comprises: setting information indicating aweb source in the web card in response to a user input of theinformation.
 7. The method of claim 6, further comprising: receivingcontents from the web source; and presenting at least a part of thecontents in a predefined format in the web card.
 8. The method of claim7, further comprising: switching the web card to a web page; andpresenting at least a part of the contents in the web page, wherein thecontents presented in the web card is a subset of the contents presentedin the web page.
 9. The method of claim 2, wherein the card is aconditional card, and the executing customization of the card comprises:setting condition information and action information corresponding tothe condition information in the conditional card in response to a userinput.
 10. The method of claim 9, further comprising: monitoring atleast one condition indicated by the condition information; andperforming at least one action once identifying that the at least onecondition is met.
 11. An apparatus for providing a user customized cardin a launcher, comprising: a presenting module configured to present acard list in the launcher, and present representations of one or morecustomizable cards in response to a user input, a receiving moduleconfigured to receive a selection of one of the one or more cards; and acustomizing module configured to execute customization of the selectedcard based on user inputs; wherein the presenting module is configuredto present the customized card in the card list.
 12. The apparatus ofclaim 11, wherein the one or more cards include at least one of a widgetcard, a web card and a conditional card.
 13. The apparatus of claim 12,wherein the card is a widget card, the presenting module is configuredto present available widgets in response to a user input, and thecustomizing module is configured to incorporate at least one widgetselected from the available widgets in the widget card.
 14. Theapparatus of claim 13, wherein the customizing module is configured to:change size and/or position of the at least one widget in the widgetcard in response to a user input; and/or change size of the widget cardin adaption to the size and/or position of the at least one widget;and/or change at least one of border style and background of the widgetcard in response to a user input.
 15. The apparatus of claim 12, whereinthe card is a web card, the customizing module is configured to setinformation indicating a web source in the web card in response to userinput of the information, and the presenting module is configured topresent at least a part of contents received from the web source in apredefined format in the web card.
 16. The apparatus of claim 15,further comprising a switching module configured to switch the web cardto a web page, and the presenting module is configured to present atleast a part of the contents in the web page, wherein the contentspresented in the web card is a subset of the contents presented in theweb page.
 17. The apparatus of claim 12, wherein the card is aconditional card, the customizing module is configured to set conditioninformation and action information corresponding to the conditioninformation in the conditional card in response to a user input.
 18. Theapparatus of claim 17, further comprising: a monitoring moduleconfigured to monitor at least one condition indicated by the conditioninformation; and an acting module configured to perform at least oneaction once the at least one condition is met.
 19. A computing system,comprising: one or more processors for executing machine-executableinstructions to run a launcher; a displayer for displaying a userinterface (UI) of the launcher, the UI includes a card list in a screenof the launcher; an input unit for receiving a user input via the UI;the one or more processors are for executing machine-executableinstructions to provide one or more customizable cards in response to auser input, receive a user selection of one of the one or more cards,execute customization of the selected card based on user inputs, andpresent the customized card in the card list.
 20. The system of claim19, wherein the one or more cards include at least one of a widget card,a web card and a conditional card.